Anti bark collar

[smudgedlipstick]

I am sure I am going to get flamed for this but here goes....

My dog will not stop barking. Ever. She barks upstairs. Runs downstairs and barks. It's all freaking day and no matter how many times I tell her to stop or what I do she xo rubies to bark.

I am losing the plot with listening to it all the time now and starring to feel sorry for my neighbours. Anyone tried an anti bark collar? Did it work? Any other suggestions?

Do you mean a collar that gives an electric shock or louds noise

Why would you do that?

Instead of turning straight to abuse have you tried a behavioural expert? Dogs bark for lots of reasons and anxiety can be one of them.

Have you tried anything else before taking drastic measures?

What triggers the barking? If he is looking out of the window and barking at the goings on, prevent him looking out the window....as an example.

Have you water pistoled him?

How are you "telling her to stop"? It may be that the way you are speaking to her is inadvertently rewarding the barking. If the dog is barking due to fear or anxiety, one of those collars would only make the problem worse.

I would second getting a behaviourist in to look at what's going on suggest a constructive way forward.

A to bark collars can cause new problems.

Apart from that, they often fail to trigger when they should or go off when they shouldn't which just confuses the dog.

Why not use a clicker to train "quiet"?

The one I am looking at vibrates when she barks. I have tried everything bar a behaviourist, she is pretty well trained in other areas just not the barking. She has t always been like this, she was a rescue and barely barked when we rescued her, but since I had my dd she is very protective over the house and barks when she hears even the slightest noise, could be me moving my leg or a neighbour or nothing. I use the same voice I use when I use other commands with her and she listens to them just not barking

She is trained to do what I say when I click my fingers, my take on clicker training, but it is no effect when she barks

I am no expert but from what you have said it sounds like anxiety barking.

Try a behaviourist first. You may find that the collar only serves to frighten not solve the issue.

Behaviourist, anti bark collar will suppress the behaviour but not deal with the underlying cause. Dog could start other undesirable behaviours like chewing, digging or self harm in an attempt to soothe themselves.

Also, clicker training is about a whole lot more than the noise.

Agree it sounds like anxiety. Have you tried adaptil (or similar) plug ins / collar?

You need to get to the root of the problem and deal with the issue, as pp has said if you punish her for barking she'll just find another way to respond to the problem. Your vet should be able to recommend a reputable behaviourist.

Wouldn't rely on a vet TBH. Look on the ABPT or CABT websites.

That should have been CAPBT.

There is a scientific study that showed dogs exposed to e collars - even the vibrating kind - had higher levels of stress hormone in their saliva. This was present even when an inactive e collar was worn.

Ooh Wyld I don't suppose you have a link? There are a few people in our dog club I'd just LOVE to send it to...

Ok, so it seems even though it's not a shock collar it's not a good idea... Will look up the other collar mentioned, and if that doesn't work I guess a behaviourist it is!

Why is the collar your first option?

Why is scaring your pet even an option?
Surely a behaviourist is the first port of call?

Because she isn't the youngest dog and have been told that training is not worthwhile, as I have said before she is pretty well trained with other things. I was looking at the vibrating collars and wasn't aware this would cause fear in all honesty

*Bella
*
This puts it in simple terms - www.companionanimalpsychology.com/2013/06/the-end-for-shock-collars.html?m=1

And this is am academic paper on it www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4153538/

A behaiourist is training. It is a qualified person finding the root of a problem then trying to solve it. Instead of scaring the dog and making it worse.

i have to go against the grain on this and admit we use one with great success. We have an extremely placid and happy terrier who barks for joy in the garden. She barks at birds, wind, neighbours and just for fun and an anti bark collar has worked fantastically at reminding her to keep it down. (She even barks at her own reflection in the pond. she's a bit dim )

We only use the collar occasionally, most often on summer days when we want to leave doors open and let her pootle in and out of the garden without driving everyone mad. The collar is one of the spray types that puff a jet of air/spray.

Of course the first time or two that it happened she didn't like it very much and looked a bit surprised but definitely not scared. She immediately learned to bark quiet enough not to set the collar off (a kind of harumph sound) but we're fine with that! I am absolutely certain that the collar doesn't stress her or scare her because she still plays and acts totally naturally when wearing it. She just doesn't bark.

The problem with using only positive training methods to deter barking is that you have to be right there when the barking happens. Most likely you'll be on the loo or in another room at the crucial moment. The collar is immediate and pain free. It has given our dog the freedom to enjoy our garden whenever she wants without complaints from the neighbours.

Try a thunder shirt for anxiety barking - I've heard great things about them

Thanks Wyld, that's great.

YY to thunder shirts, or you can also get a wrap (Although our hyper anxious girl chewed straight through hers...). Maybe look up t touch, there are videos on you tube. Ideally you want to try and find the source of the problem though.

Out of interest OP, what so you mean when you say "She isn't the youngest dog"? Have you been told she's too old to train? Because dogs are usually very willing to learn regardless of age. Ingrained behaviours will be harder to deal with but age doesn't usually have an effect.